More Stories

Informist, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025

 

By Gopika Balasubramanium

MUMBAI – The Nifty 50 index closed higher Thursday, taking a step closer to regaining its record high. The 50-stock index climbed as high as 26246.65 points during the day's trade but came off the high to close 0.5% up at 26192.15 points. Towards the end of October, the index had climbed to 26104.20 points but could not sustain itself at that level. This time, the 50-stock index closed above 26000 points for the second straight session.

 

In April, the index had slipped to its lowest level in 2025 at 21743.65 points. This was mainly due to uncertainty on how US President Donald Trump's tariffs would affect the world economic order, fears of a recession in the US, high crude oil prices, concern on earnings growth, and a sell-off by foreign investors. Currently, the Nifty 50 is 20% higher from the year's low. The BSE Sensex closed at 85632.68 points, up 446.21 points or 0.5%.    

 

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank, which together have nearly 21% weightage in the benchmark index, ended the session 1.5-2.0% higher. The third major heavyweight, ICICI Bank, with a weightage of 8%, closed marginally lower. Five Nifty 50 constituents--SBI Life Insurance Co., Eicher Motors, Titan Co., State Bank of India, and Bharti Airtel--hit record highs during the session. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Infrastructure, and Nifty Bank hit record highs.

 

Sentiment in the market has been positive, especially with the consensus veering to expectation of a recovery in earnings growth of Indian companies in the second half of the current financial year. That said, in the September quarter, the cumulative net profit of Nifty 50 companies declined marginally, mainly because of the disappointing performance of banks and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles. Excluding these, the cumulative net profit of the Nifty 50 universe rose over 7% on year. The growth would have been a touch more if not for customers delaying purchases in anticipation of lower goods and services tax. While some analysts flagged concern on whether the current trajectory of earnings would be sustainable, others expect earnings growth for the financial year to be in double digits.

 

Some analysts said the indices would consolidate in the near term because of the lack of fresh triggers but acknowledged that there could be an upside once the India-US trade deal is closed. Analysts said the market has taken Commerce and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal's comment earlier this week on progress on the first phase of the agreement as a positive. They also expect the indices to end the calendar year at a record high.  More